00:00Mercedes premiering its GLC electric SUV at the Munich Motor Show.
00:07It's hoped the new model will signal a turnaround for the German carmaker,
00:12which reported close to a 60% drop in earnings in the first half of this year.
00:18Executives say better times are ahead.
00:22This year alone we're investing a double-digit billion euro amount in our passenger car division.
00:29It's a similar story for other German carmakers.
00:32BMW and Volkswagen are, like weiss, spending heavily on new models,
00:36and not just to imitate the competition.
00:38They point out differences between markets.
00:42Where China goes a lot into voice control on operations,
00:46that is not really true for Europe and not for the U.S. really.
00:50When you look at the J.D. Power results,
00:54things have to be quality, easy to operate,
00:58and make it easier for the consumer.
01:01Timo Cronin is a car industry consultant who knows the Chinese market firsthand.
01:06He says German producers have to concentrate on their old strengths,
01:10quality, safety and dependability.
01:13That's because in the world's biggest car market, China, they lag far behind.
01:18But that's not all, he says.
01:20Globally, there's hardly any place more expensive to build cars than in Germany.
01:25Except the fact that volumes will go down and that we have to reduce the structures that we have to that volume.
01:33That means that we have to become smaller, maybe close manufacturing sites.
01:38So we have to reduce the structures that we have.
01:43That is a sobering outlook for Germany's showcase industry and its 1.2 million workers.
01:49Insiders say around 200,000 could lose their jobs in the coming five years.
01:56And Cronin isn't riding off traditional engines either.
02:00The importance of combustion engines is, in my eyes, underrated.
02:03Everyone's speaking about e-mobility.
02:05And yes, it is important.
02:07But in my eyes, the future is a portfolio.
02:09You will have combustion engines in a few areas across Europe, across US and across Asia.
02:15And you will have a strong segment for BEVs, so electric vehicles.
02:20And you will have a segment for hybrid vehicles.
02:22And the internal combustion engine is not dead and it won't be dead for many, many years.
02:28Cronin points to rural areas in places like the US and South America,
02:33where infrastructure for electric vehicles won't be in place for a long time.
02:37And new German EVs now boast some more advanced technologies than competitors, like Tesla.
02:43For example, allowing faster recharging.
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